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No. 624,542. Patented May 9, I899.

- H. T. RICHARDS.

TELEPHONE. REGISTER.

(Application filed Mar. 8, 1899.)

(N0 Modai.)

INVENTOR I J BY J; ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT T. RICHARDS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TELEPHONE-REGISTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,542, dated May 9, 1899.

Application filed March 6, 1 8 9 9.

To ctZZ whmn it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT T. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, (Brooklyn,) county of Kings, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone-Registers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to telephone-registers, the object being to provide a telephone system with a device by which a record of the number of successful calls made by the several subscribers may be made and the controversies which now frequently arise as to the number of calls in cases where the charges are graded according to the amount of .service rendered may be avoided. In the present plan of operation it is common to keep a record of the number of calls at the central station; but the subscriber has no check on possible errors of the central=office operators. In a prior application filed by me on the 19th day of January, 1899, Serial No. 702,637, I described an organization for keeping an exact record of the number of calls both at the central office and the subscribers stations. My present invention relates to an improvement on that system,so as to prevent a subscriber from defeating the operation of his register by the central-office operator. The organization described in the above-noted application provides a device in the subscribers station which obstructs the return of his telephone-receiver to its hook or support after having been used, necessitating on his part the operation of a device in cooperative relation to his register when he returns the telephone to its support. While the telephone is ofi this support, the change of position of the support puts into operative condition a circuit controlled by a circuit-closer at the central office, which when closed locks his movable device to his regis-' ter, and thereby forces him to operate the Serial No. 707,903. (No model.)

erns his register, in which case his register would not correctly correspond as to the number of calls with the corresponding register at the central station. This would leave open In the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate the invention, Figure l is an elevation,

partly in section, of a registering apparatus at the subscribers station embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view, andFig. 3 is a diagram of a system of tele- I effect phone-circuits with which the invention may a be used.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a telephone hook or support,which, in addition to the contacts ordinarily provided by which the talking or calling apparatus is automatic-- ally controlled, cooperates with an auxiliary contact 2, connected with a ground branch 3 at one side of the telephone-circuit through a circuit-breaker 4, controlled by the movable obstructing device. This branch includes a magnetically-controlled lockin g device which insures the operation of the subscribers register when his telephone is returned to'his hook. The branch circuit 3 puts the locking device under control of the central-office operator. The mode of accomplishing this may vary with the kind of telephone system employed. That shown in the diagram is a metallic circuit connecting central office with one or more subscribers, the talking and calling instruments being in parallel relation to the two sides of the circuit. The register-controlling circuit may readily be fitted to such a system by means of a ground branch 3, connecting with one side of the circuit when the telephone is taken off the hook. A similar ground branch 3 at the central oifice includes a source of current, a circuit-closer, and an electrically-controlled register, as indicated in the diagram. The operative parts of the subscribers register comprise a pivoted turnstile 5, which swings about a center at one side of the supporting-hook and when the telephone is removed from the hook throws one of the arms 6 7 across the hook, so as to obstruct the return of the receiver. The two arms 6 7 may be set at right angles to one another, as shown in Fig. 2, and when the telephone is removed the arm (5 is shifted to a position indicated in dotted lines, while the arm 7 is brought across thehook. A sector or cam S is mounted on the turnstile, so that when the telephone is removed the change of position of the turnstile or movable obstructing device brings the cam S undcrone arm of the hook 1 and locks the latter against depression, so that the subscriber cannot interfere with the register-controlling circuit. The arms 6 7'are firmly connected with or form part of a casing which contains the operative parts of the register, which latter is mounted on a tubular standard 9, firmly secured to the register-support 10. \Vilhin the casing is a curved block 11,having an inclined face which cooperates with a roller 12, mounted on a pin projecting laterally from and secured to a movable rod 13,which operates the wheel-train of the register. Connected to the pin which supports the roller 12 is a hook 14, which cooperates with a detent 15, controlled by an electromagnet 16, which latter is included in the ground branch 3 (see Fig. 3) of the register-controlling circuit. A bell, as shown in Fig. 1, may be operated when the electromagnet 16 is energized, thus notifying the subscriber when central office operates the register-controlling circuit. Said operation releases the hook 14 and permits the rod 13 to fall, thus bringing the roller 12 in contact with the lowest part of the incline 11, which latter has been shifted by the change of position of the turnstile when the telephone is removed. At the close of the conversation the subscriber in order to restore his tele-' phone to the hook must shift the turnstile, thus forcing the roller 12 to ride over the incline and operate the register. Thus while the telephone is off the hook the subscriber cannot depress the latter, a mechanical obstruction to prevent change of position of the hook beingbrought under the latter by the withdrawal of the telephone. In order to prevent his shifting the turnstile during the time the central is answering the call, and thereby possibly defeating the operation of the magnetic locking device, I provide a circuit-breaker in the ground branch 3, which is controlled by the turnstile itself. On a fixed part of the casingis a knife-switch contact 4, connecting directly with ground, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. This contact 00- operates with a companion contact 4., carried by one arm of the turnstile which leads through the latter, including in circuit an electromagnet 16, to the contact 2, controlled disables the register-controlling circuit and renders the central-office operator cognizant of the fact by the failure to operate of her electrically-controlled register. At the same time there is provided at the subscribers station a registering device-which cannot be controlled except by a joint effort of the centraloffice operator and himself and which therefore prevents any question on his part as to the accuracy of the record.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

'1. A telephone-register system comprising a registering-circuit including a source of current connecting two stations, a current-com troller at one station, a register controlled by the joint action of the operators at the two stations, a movable device obstructing the removal of the telephone-receiver at the other station, and a circuit-closer actuated by said movable device to close the registering-circuit at the latter station.

2. A telephone-register system comprising a registering-circuit including a source of current connecting a central oflice and a subscribers station, a current-controller for the registering-circuit at central oflice, a register controlled by the joint action of central and the subscriber, a movable device at the subscribers station obstructing the removal of his telephone-receiver, a circuit-closer in the registering-circuit controlled bya telephonehook and a lock operated by the movable device engaging the telephone-support when the telephone is removed.

3. A telephone-register system comprising aregistering-circuitincluding a source of current connecting central office and a subscribers station, a current-controller in said circuit at central offioe, a movable device obstructing the removal of the subscribers receiver, an electromagnet adapted to couple said device with a register at the subscribers station when the receiver is off its support and a circuit-closer in the registering-circuit operated by the movable device.

4. A telephone-register system comprising a registering-circuit including asource of current connecting central office and a subscribers station, a current-controller in said circuit at central office, a movable device obstructing the removal of the subscribers receiver, an electromagnet adapted to couple said device with the subscribers register when the receiver is off its support, and a circuitcloser operated by said movable device at the limit of its movement.

I0 CHlt-ClOSGlS in the registering-circuit, one 0perated by the subscribers hook and the otherv by the movable device, and a lock engaging the hook when the telephone is removed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 4th day of March, A. D. 15

HERBERT T. RICHARDS. Witnesses:

R0131. H; READ, ALICK G. MACANDREW. 

